


The Truth Is Changing

by 13SapphireStars13



Category: Gossip Girl
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dan and Jenny aren't schlarship kids, Dan and Serena both ran away to boarding school, Dan's Dad's Band is Famous, Endgame Nate Archibald/Dan Humphrey, F/F, F/M, Follows the episodes, M/M, They're part of the Upper East Siders but still not treated like it, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-15
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-05-06 22:38:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5433395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/13SapphireStars13/pseuds/13SapphireStars13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If someone had told Dan a year ago he'd have somehow gotten Nate Archibald to fall in love with him, found Serena Van der Woodsen crying in the hallway, run away to boarding school with Serena, come back, and have to deal with Nate's feelings for him, Dan would have laughed in their face and told them that he wasn't that type of person before walking away. But now? Now Dan just wants to make it through high school without being the main piece of gossip for Gossip Girl.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Truth Always Comes Out

_Hey Upper East Siders. Gossip Girl here, your one and only source into the scandalous life of the Manhattan elite, and do I have some interesting news, one of my many sources spotted Dan Humphrey at Grand Central this morning just after Serena Van der Woodsen herself was spotted, looking very different from the last time we’d seen him just one year ago, as he was picked up by his disappointed looking father and sister. Shame running away couldn’t last forever, right Lonely Boy?_

_For those of you that don’t remember. Last year, in the midst of the rest of the drama going on, our local rock star’s antisocial son went off grid when he ran away from the Upper East Side to "boarding school". The same excuse Serena used when she let the Upper East Side. There was a lot of speculation brought up to yours truly about his sudden decision to go to boarding school at the same time Serena Van der Woodsen ran off herself._

_Did Serena and Dan run away to be together like in the fairy tales we used to read? Are they the modern day Romeo and Juliet that really did make it to Mantua and away from Verona escaping their own fatal ending? Or did something else happen? Did the goody two shoes son and the rebellious daughter do something bad? Bad enough to force them out of the city? Whatever it was that had those two Upper East Siders running away, you’ll hear it from me first. Because the truth always comes out, and sometimes not in the way you want it._

_You know you love me – XOXO Gossip Girl_


	2. Well... That's Interesting...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter mostly follows the beginning of the pilot, with Dan arriving at Grand Central, a snippet of Blair's party, Nate and Serena's conversation at the Palace, but I've added my own little add-ins to the original scenes, so I hope you enjoy them. It's a little short, but it's the most I can type out right now sorry!
> 
> Don't forget to comment and give kudos if you like because that just gives me more inspiration to write and update!

_Look, I never wanted to or meant to do any of this. I just didn’t want to be an outsider anymore, and well, I guess I got what I wanted after all. Just not in the way I had originally planned it._

_My name is Dan Humphrey. I ran away with Serena Van der Woodsen, the girl I’d thought for years was my dream girl and my ticket into the Upper East Siders. Turns out, she’s someone else’s dream girl, or at least she will be, maybe. Truth is she's my friend, just my friend, possibly my only friend right now. And, I’m okay with that. I am. Turns out that I’m not just solely into Serena. Apparently the Upper East Siders have another person whom I happen to like more than her. Nate Archibald. Blair’s boyfriend Nate._

_I know, I know. Was I falling for the unattainable again? Yes. Would my dreams be crushed? Maybe, but here’s the thing. Nate? Not as unattainable as everyone thought. The events that led up to me discovering that information are why I’m no longer just an outsider looking in, but an insider begging to be let out._

_Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. Hopefully you’ll figure out what I mean later on, but for now just remember every secret has a way of getting out._

X-O

Dan stepped off the train wishing he could immediately turn around and go back to Connecticut. He’d spent the last year running and hiding from everyone, and it felt like death having to come back. The only reason he was back was because Serena said that it was time to face what they’d both done. Their mistakes. For Dan, it was Nate and his family. For Serena, it was Blair, her brother, and the mistakes she made that haunted her. Dan knew what she’d done, and he knew it was hard for her to face everything and everyone. But, catching his father looking so disappointed in him when Dan spotted the man was hard for him too. His father hadn’t even been there when Dan had gone off to boarding school; he’d been off in Seattle on the North American leg of his world tour with his band, Lincoln Hawk, so he had no clue what Dan had done before running away to boarding school. No idea what would have happened if Dan had stayed, who would have been hurt if he hadn't left.

“Hey Dad.” Dan tried to smile as he hugged his father. His dad hugged him quickly before letting go and grabbing Dan’s bags.“Hey Jenny.” Jenny smiled brightly as she hugged him tightly and held him for as long as she could, vastly different then their father. “It’s good to see you little sis. It’s been way too long.”

“Good to see you too Dan. Nice haircut by the way.” Jenny laughed as Dan ran his hand over his short hair. “You sure it wasn’t a military school that you ran off to?”

“Very funny Jen.” Dan put his arm around his sister as she led him out of the station. Dan noted how his father hadn’t said a word yet and sighed. That was a conversation that wasn't going to be easy.

Glancing up at the staircase, Dan spotted Serena as she looked out over the crowd. He caught her eye, and she nodded at him once she'd seen him. They'd taken the train together, but she'd gotten off before him in case anyone saw them getting off the train and jumped to conclusions, not that they'd allow the right conclusions to be made. Gossip Girl could only guess why they were back. Dan drew his eyes away to look at someone taking Serena's picture and no doubt sending it immediately to Gossip Girl. So it begins, he thought. Dan tried not to bring attention to himself, but the same girl that took Serena's picture, following where Serena had been staring, turned around and saw him. She took his picture, no doubt sending that picture to Gossip Girl too, before walking away, smirking triumphantly. Dan sighed for what felt like the thousandth time in the past hour. Being back wasn’t going to be easy.

X-O

_"... Better lock it down with Nate B. Clock's ticking."_

Nate had no clue what had gotten into Blair. She'd always said she'd wanted to wait, wait for marriage,wait for the right moment, wait for whatever. Just wait. Guilt flooded Nate when he thought about how he hadn't waited. He'd betrayed Blair, betrayed her in more ways than one.

Nate had meant to tell her, but how do you tell your girlfriend that you'd slept with someone else, not only that but that the someone else was male. Nate had waited to see if anyone came forward, to say they'd slept with him. He'd waited for the other shoe to drop, but it never did. And, gradually that night became a secret that Nate kept for himself to look back on and remember the only night where he'd controlled his life, where he controlled who he was with.

But, right now wasn't the time to think about lost boys from a year ago. Now Blair was confessing her love for him, and Nate was trying not to freak out.

"I love you too." Nate prayed that his hesitation wasn't as prominent as he thought it was. He wasn't even sure who he loved. The boy he'd spent a magical night with who'd run the morning after or the girl kissing him professing her undying love for him.

X-O

“Oh my God! You’ll never believe what’s on Gossip Girl.”

“Someone saw Serena getting off the train at Grand Central.”

“Good. Things were getting a bit dull around here.” Chuck said playing with his glass with a bored expression on his face. The two girls next to him laughed and went back to their phones, babbling on about Serena, when another alert popped up.

“Oh my God! Dan Humphrey just got off the train at Grand Central! Right after Serena!” Chuck grabbed the girl’s phone to look at the message, an interested gleam in his eyes.

“Well,” Chuck said. “That’s interesting.” Dropping the phone into the girl’s lap, Chuck took a sip of his scotch pondering how much havoc Serena and her boy toy were going wreak now that they'd returned.

X-O

Someone was knocking on the door, but Nate and Blair ignored them. They continued to knock this time saying something that stopped Nate cold.

"Blair it's Serena!" Nate recognized Blair's mother's voice as he pulled away from Blair.

"Serena?" He questioned, more than a little disbelieving. Serena was there that night. She'd seen Nate go off with someone who wasn't Blair and the next day she'd been gone, run away to boarding school.

"Serena's at school. Kiss me." Blair tried to push him back down onto the bed, but Nate needed to go talk to Serena.

"No I just heard your mom say she's here." Nate knew that he was proving some dark rumor that he loved Serena instead of Blair, but he didn't care. "Don't you wanna go say hey?" Nate was up and getting dressed before Blair even responded.

"Yeah... Totally." Blair's eyes were full of barely hidden hatred that Nate knew was directed at Serena. He wanted to tell Blair that the rumors about him and Serena were false. That he'd never loved her and only loved Blair, but Blair had a shockingly good ability to tell when he was lying. She'd be able to tell he was lying when he said he only loved her, and she'd think he was lying about everything. Not that he was quite possibly in love with a boy.

Nate nodded at her, trying to avoid eye contact, and went for the door.

X-O

_Word is that S bailed on B's party in under 90 seconds and didn't even have one limoncello._

_Has our Bad Girl_ really  _gone good?  Or is it all just part of the act? And what is our dear Lonely Boy's role in all this? Is he innocent in all this, or has he taken on Serena's old role as the bad child._

_Why'd they leave? Why'd they return? Send me all the deets._

_And who am I?_

_That's one secret I'll never tell... the_ only  _one._

_X. O. X. O., Gossip Girl_

X-O

“Nate?” Serena asked as she walked up to the doors of the Palace.She was tired and didn't what to deal with Nate after watching what her little brother had done because she'd been too selfish to come back sooner.

“Oh, hey.” Nate turned towards as he spoke, and Serena was struck with memories of what happened that night, but she batted them away. She was here for Eric, to make sure he got better, not to remember nights best left forgotten. “Uh, your mom told me you guys were staying at the Palace.”

“Yeah, uh, we’re renovating, again.” Serena said. “You know my mom- if it’s not broke, break it.” She stopped talking when Nate laughed, and once he’d stopped, she asked him bluntly.

“What are you doing here Nate?”

“Oh I just wanted to see how you were. You seemed kind of upset last night. And I-.” Serena cut him off.

“Look, I-I gotta get going and change for school. I’m going to be late.” Serena turned to walk into the hotel, but Nate grabbed her before she could.

“Serena.” Serena shook her head. 

“No. No.”

“But you’re back now. Please just tell me what you saw. I know last time I saw you I wasn’t very-.” Serena cut Nate off again before he could finish.

“You weren’t what Nate? Whatever you think you were or weren’t doesn’t matter. I didn’t come back for you or to help you, and he wants to stay gone.” Nate let go off Serena’s arm as if it burned him and backed a step away, hurt.

“What did he tell you?” Nate asked, his eyes full of panic. “Where is he? How is he?”

“I know a lot Nate. He told me a lot.” Serena glared at him. “But, he’s over it, over you, and he wants you to be too. So, don’t go looking for things you shouldn’t; you'll just end up hurting those around you. Look Blair’s my best friend and you’re her boyfriend, and she loves you. That’s the way things are supposed to be.”

Nate watched sadly as Serena turned her back to him and walked towards the hotel.

“Just, tell him I’m sorry.” Nate called after her. “Tell him… I didn’t mean to hurt him.”


	3. Rumors, Rumors, Rumors

 “So, Dan,” Jenny said as she leaned against the door frame leading into Dan’s room. Dan looked up from his packing to look at her. He'd known that she’d eventually come and interrogate him. He was surprised she’d made it through the night without cornering him. “Why did you really come back?”

“Like I told Dad, I came back because I was homesick, and since Dad was back from tour, it was the best time to come back.” Dan sighed as he placed his laptop into his bag and grabbed a notebook from his bedside table.

“I know that’s not why, Dan.” Jenny said. “Come on you never hide anything from, why are you starting now?”

“This is different than me letting you in on Gossip Girl Jenny, and you know that. Besides, I’m not hiding anything. I came home because it was time, and I wanted to.” Dan tried to sound convincing and failed, miserably.

“See,” Jenny pointed her finger at him as she entered the room fully. “That’s what isn’t true. I saw your face at the station yesterday Dan. You looked ready to run. You’re not back because you missed us or whatever you told Dad. You’re back because of something else.” Dan sighed and turned to fully face his sister.

“Jenny, please don’t ask me to tell you. Please. It’s better for everyone that you don’t know.” Dan said.

“Dan are you in some kind of trouble? Did someone find out about Gossip Girl? Are they threatening you?” Jenny asked in a panic. Dan snorted derisively and shook his head.

“If only it was that simple Jenny.” Dan said as he zipped up his bag and left the room.

X-O

When Dan walked onto the grounds of Constance Billard School for Girls and St. Jude's School for Boys, he could feel the stares of the other students as they whispered to their friends.

“That’s Dan Humphrey, he ran away with Serena Van der Woodsen last year. I heard that he got Serena pregnant, and they ran away together so she could have the child.” Dan overheard a young girl telling her friend as he passed by them.

"No way! I heard that they ran off because they stole Chuck Bass's limo. Apparently Dan was trying to impress Serena, and Blair and Chuck banished them both because of it." The friend whispered back.

Dan gritted his teeth as he walked into the building. He knew that there would be rumors flying around, but he hadn’t expected them to start so soon, especially since Gossip Girl hadn’t mentioned him by name again after the original post the day before. Lonely Boy was supposed to be him and also not him. It was supposed to give him some anonymity.

Dan sighed as he headed towards the principal’s office. The whispers didn’t quiet down as he walked towards the office instead they seemed to get louder. Everywhere Dan turned there was another group of students that would be staring at him whispering. He nearly cried with joy when he finally made it to the office where there were no other students. That joy lasted for about ten seconds, which was as long as it took a secretary to tell him to head right into the principal’s office and sit down.

“Mr. Humphrey,” Mr. Prescott said, trying to fake a pleasant tone and only failing slightly. “I hope this won’t take too much time out of your morning. I know you have much to catch up on now that you are back with us. This meeting is merely a formality to talk about any rules that have changed during your absence. While none have been changed, I would still like for you to go over the handbook.”

“Mr. Prescott, I will do just that.” Dan smiled, hoping to get this over with quickly.

“Excellent. I ask that you pay particular attention to the code of conduct written in the handbook. We have a strict code that all students here must abide by, and you especially, Mr. Humphrey, should know that there are no exceptions to that code allowed.”

“Mr. Prescott, I promise that I will do my best to abide by that code. I’d hate for my stay here to be cut short after I’ve just returned.” Dan tried to keep his frustration at bay. Of course he was getting threatened by the principal. He wasn’t from the Upper East Side, so there was little consequence to upsetting him.

“Well, Mr. Humphrey I believe that just about wraps this meeting up for us. Welcome back to St. Jude’s.” Prescott smiled at Dan, and Dan stood up. Grabbing his backpack, Dan headed out the door. He slipped out quietly, his frustration at the situation still there.

Dan spotted Serena walking down the hallway and hurried towards her. He grabbed her arm gently once he got close enough. Serena turned around quickly, and he let go.

“Hey Dan.” Serena smiled at him, and Dan tried to smile back. But, his frustration didn’t allow for a very convincing smile, and Serena gave him a look, the same look she’d given him almost every day for a week when they’d both gone to Connecticut until they'd finally talked about everything. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Dan said, earning himself another look from Serena that had him sighing in frustration. “It’s nothing really. Prescott just threatened me with expulsion if I even thought about pulling any stunts this year.”

“Dan.” Serena said softly. Dan knew what she was going to say, so he cut her off before she could start.

“It’s fine. I’m used to not being treated like the rest of you. Comes with the territory. Brooklyn Lonely Boy, remember?” Dan shrugged before changing the subject. “So, heard from Blair yet?” Before Serena could answer, Nate and Chuck walked into the hallway. Dan froze when he saw Nate. His heartbeat sped up quickly as the boy started walking towards them, seeming intent on talking to them. Serena grabbed Dan and pulled the two of them out of view.

"Let's just say, everything is not great. Blair's not happy I'm back." Serena said once they were out of eyesight. "She's believing the rumors swirling about Nate and I, and she's angry."

"Here I thought the worst thing about coming back was going to be the rumors." Dan tried to say humorously trying to get Serena's mind off of Blair's rejection of their friendship. "You should hear the ones that are already going around though. Apparently, Chuck banished us."

Serena laughed loudly, and she looked like she was going to reply, but the school bell interrupted her.

"I'll talk to you later. Wanna grab lunch at the cafe around the corner?" She asked.

Dan nodded, and Serena walked away, most likely towards her homeroom. Dan sighed before walking towards his own homeroom. He'd briefly forgotten he had to go to classes with the res of his classmates and the rumors. The rest of the day did not look like it was going to get better then the morning.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if that sucked, but I'm trying so don't hate me.


	4. A Masked Memory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a really short chapter, but I wanted to put it up right now to show that I really am back at this story. Thank you to everyone who has waited for me to update, hopefully I don't disappoint. I'm going to keep the author's note up for a little while longer, but it will come down within a week or so.  
> More notes at the end!

“Serena looked effing hot last night. There’s something wrong with that level of perfection.” Chuck paused briefly, and Nate glanced over at his best friend, mentally imploring him not to say anything regrettable. They were in public after all, some things you just don’t say in public. “It needs to be violated.” And there he went.

“You are deeply disturbed.” Nate said.

“And yet, you know I’m right.” Chuck said, tone self-righteous. Chuck turned towards him, saying, “You’re telling me, if you had the chance-.” Nate didn’t even let him finish.

“I have a girlfriend.” Nate said, perhaps a little too forcefully. Because he did. Blair was his girlfriend. Nate just wasn’t sure he _wanted_ a girlfriend.

“You guys have been dating since kindergarten.” Chuck said dismissively. “And you haven’t sealed the deal.”

“Who says, ‘seal the deal’?” Nate said, trying to get Chuck onto something else, only getting Chuck to laugh. Chuck still thought Nate was a virgin, and Nate wasn't going to tell Chuck anything else. Not yet.

Chuck was his best friend, but Nate hadn’t told him about that night. Nate could tell Chuck had feelings for Blair and would always protect her, and Nate hadn’t wanted to see who Chuck would choose, his best friend or the girl he might have feelings for.

“Come on.” Chuck said, and Nate glanced up to see that they’d made it to their stop. As they stood there, Nate decided to take a risk.

“What if I didn’t want to date Blair?” Nate asked. Chuck just turned and stared at him, assessing him. “We’ve been dating for so long, I’m not sure if that’s what I want anymore.”

Nate stepped past Chuck to get off the bus, unable to see the look in Chuck’s eyes that meant he was saving what Nate had said for later. To be used later.

X-O

“Who was that guy Serena was talking to?” Nate asked as he watched Serena walk towards her homeroom and the guy she’d been talking to stepped back into the hallway. Chuck glanced over and raised an eyebrow.

“Humphrey, Dan or something.” Chuck sighed before he started checking out the girl walking down the hall. “He was in that Gossip Girl blast yesterday, did you not read any of it?”

“I didn’t have any time to.” Nate said as he watched the boy, Dan, walk down the hall. Nate studied his face, and he was hit with a wave of déjà vu. He’d seen Dan somewhere, probably at school but that didn’t seem right. Nate looked the other boy up and down, only slightly judging him for the rumpled school shirt and worn in jacket he was wearing.

Dan had a horrendous buzzed haircut that somehow wasn’t entirely atrocious, but Nate thought vaguely that he’d look better with dark curly hair. He could see it actually.

Dark curls piled on top of his head, a few hanging an inch or so down the right side of his face framing it slightly. The top half of his face covered by a mask that made his amber eyes stand out against both the pale silver of the mask and the pale white of his skin. Dark eyeliner around his eyes that drew even more attention to his wide, mesmerizing eyes when Nate leaned forward to kiss him. Eyes that twinkled under those stupid fairy lights, looking like aged whiskey as Nate pulled away from him, mouth slightly open in shock. 

 Nate shook his head, trying to rid himself of the image. He was just imagining things. Dan Humphrey was not the boy from that night, not even close.

Just then Nate heard the bell ring, he looked around the hallway noticing that most of the students were making their way into classrooms. Chuck gave him an odd look as Nate started walking down the hallway.

“C’mon man, let’s get to class.” Chuck shrugged and walked with him, not making a comment about his space out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The haircut Nate was describing was a mix of Dan's season 3 and 4 hair (arguably his best haircuts the entire series).
> 
> Tell me what you think! Tell me what you liked and what you didn't, all feedback is welcomed so long as it isn't unnecessarily hateful

**Author's Note:**

> Okay this is super short, but right now it's just to set up everything. I'll be posting another chapter in the coming days if this gets an okay response.  
> (Also if you've read my other works, please don't be mad at me for starting another story, but don't worry I'm out of school right now so I'll be updating everything)


End file.
